Richmond, California – winning against big oil
Oct 8, 2013
The most rewarding part of touring our book The Oil Road, for me, has been learning from experiences of people we visit. The book tour becomes part of the Road. Two weeks ago we presented the book in the San Francisco Bay Area, where tankers deliver crude from around the world, including the Ceyhan terminal...
#Oct7Proclaim – Solidarity with Idle No More
Oct 7, 2013
Today is the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the British Royal Proclamation, an historic document that legally mandated Canada to recognise Indigenous land rights. This document was signed by George III and this morning at 8.30am a group of 25 people met at the George III statue on Pall Mall as part of a Global...
Musicians react to oil sponsorship of the arts
Oct 1, 2013
Recently the call to challenge oil and associated industries’ sponsorship of the arts has been made by high profile musicians from around the world. On 8th September Boff Whalley, Chumbawumba front-man, described how he left Tate Britain part way through his special visit to the Lowry exhibition out of disgust at the number of BP...
Tribute to Nick Reeves, CIWEM – artist, environmentalist, activist
Oct 1, 2013
“BP, Shell and all other petrochemical corporations must be denied control of our arts and cultural institutions, right now.” Nick Reeves Earlier in the summer, we heard the shocking news that Nick Reeves, the vigorous Executive Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Managers, died after a severe stroke. He was only 60....
PACE’s failure to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its Council of Europe obligations leads to sharp increase in political arrests
Oct 1, 2013
This morning, I knelt handcuffed and gagged outside the European Court of Human Rights, alongside a picture of Rashadat Akhundov, a 29 year-old Azerbaijani activist with the N!DA civic movement who has been detained since March. Akhundov was initially arrested on politically motivated charges of weapon possession, but now faces more serious charges of inciting...
More Like People: Social Change Without The Pretentious Corporate Stuff
Sep 30, 2013
When did voluntary action become a ‘sector’? When did groups working to achieve social change start to have their own ‘Chief Executives’? When did ‘a seat at the table’ come to trump ‘an ear to the ground’? The professionalisation of social change has come with many costs: out-of-touch services, campaigns that can’t move beyond addressing...
News from Virginia – The most difficult retreat of all
Sep 24, 2013
Mika Minio-Paluello, Anna Galkina and James Marriott are travelling in North America as part of a book-tour to promote The Oil Road – Journeys from the Caspian to the City of London. You can find more info about their confirmed speaking dates in Virginia, the Bay Area, Toronto, Baltimore and Washington DC, New Orleans and...
The heart of a mountain lain on its side – Blacksburg, Virginia
Sep 13, 2013
Mika Minio-Paluello, Anna Galkina and James Marriott are travelling in North America as part of a tour over September and October to promote The Oil Road – Journeys from the Caspian to the City of London. You can find more info about their confirmed speaking dates in Virginia, the Bay Area, Toronto, Baltimore and Washington...
Is Lord Risby’s trip to Algeria a warm up for DSEI arms sales?
Sep 6, 2013
Special trade envoy Lord Risby is off on a trip to Algeria this week following on from a trip by Cameron earlier on in the year. The trip is happening just before the controversial DSEI arms fair takes place in London. A number of groups, including us, Campaign Against Arms Trade and Algeria Solidarity Campaign...
Slow travel across the Atlantic: The Independent Voyager
Sep 4, 2013
Mika Minio-Paluello, Anna Galkina and James Marriott are heading to North America as part of a tour over September and October to promote The Oil Road – Journeys from the Caspian to the City of London. You can find more info about their confirmed speaking dates in Virginia, the Bay Area, New Orleans, Baltimore and...
Margaret Atwood talk at the Southbank Centre – sponsorship, Shell & dystopias
Aug 28, 2013
Chris Garrard is an activist and composer who was lucky enough to have a ticket to the sold out Margaret Atwood talk last night at the Southbank Centre. You can read Chris’ blog here and an interview with him about his chamber-opera version of The Handmaid’s Tale here. Last night, I went along to see...
Margaret Atwood says “we must talk” about Southbank Centre and Shell
Aug 27, 2013
The wonderful author Margaret Atwood is speaking tonight at the Southbank Centre about her new book MaddAdam, the highly anticipated trilogy, coming after Oryx and Crake, and After The Flood. The trilogy is an important work in the emerging field of climate change literature, with a dark, specualtive look at a dystopian future where the...
